Are You Stuck? This Body Scan Can Help
I’ve used this easy mindfulness technique for years and I love it.
Use it to help release tension that you hold in your physical body.
Begin your body scan by finding a quiet, comfortable place where you feel safe. Your best location is one where you won’t be disturbed.
Sit in a comfortable resting position where you begin to lengthen and deepen your inbreaths and outbreaths.
Focus on your body, noticing any sensations such as pain, tightness, warmth, cold, or tension.
Begin by focusing on your feet. What do you find?
As you notice tension or other sensations, breathe deeply, coaxing your feet to relax.
Observe the tension leaving your body with your out breath. Let the tension disappear into the air.
Now, work your way through your body. Repeat this process through your calves, knees, hips, back, shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, fingers.
Finish the first phase of this scan with your neck, jaw, face, eyes, and head.
When you reach your head, move your attention back down your body. Repeat this process ending with your feet.
When you finish with your feet, place them on the floor. How do they feel? Stay with this feeling as long as you are comfortable. When you are ready, slowly get up.
Move your muscles around slowly. Move your head from side to side. Slowly swing your arms from side to side. Move your legs around.
Take your time with these slow, luscious. focused movements.
When it is time for the scan to end, thank your body for taking care of you to the best of its ability.
If you don’t have time for a full scan, focus on the body parts where you experience tension. The important thing is to do what you can with the time you have.
This scan is also a good practice to do before sleep because it helps both your body and mind relax deeply.
Thank you for reading this blog article.
Please share it with your relatives and friends and neighbors.
Forward it to your favorite social media networks.
Check out books at www.thurmangreco.com
Thanks again!
Thurman
Is Something a Little “Off”? – It’s time to Connect!
For many of us, Winter is still out there. CONNECT with each day and its gradually-increasing light level.
This is a good opportunity to see, really see, the evergreen trees.
Are there any winter-flowering plants in your life these days?
What about the birds that visit at this time of the year?
A real treat this time of the year is the winter sunset. A winter sunset happens earlier in the day than in the summer. Pause, slow down your breathing, and bring the sunset into your life.
Today’s sunset is unique to this moment in time. (Tomorrow’s sunset will be different.) This is your chance to absorb a little awe and experience a stilling moment.
Now, take a deep breath. Imagine a line running from the top of your head to the bottom of your spine.
Inhale deeply. Fill your lungs. Expand your muscles. Invite some positive energy to fill your body.
Enjoy this special moment for what it is: a special moment, a blip in all of eternity.
CONNECT!
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please connect with me if you have remarks or questions.
And, share this post with friends, relatives, and social media networks.
Give Comfort – The Perfect Gift for Everyone: a Self-Care Kit
Do you have a Self-Care kit? You probably do, without even realizing it.
I’ve assembled an essential collection of things to use when anxiety gets out front. My Self-Care kit comes in handy when I need to:
feel less anxious
feel more calm
feel ready to face the world again.
I recently organized my Self-Care Kit so it’s ready for me whenever the newspaper, the TV, the mail, or any other event gets to be too much.
Actually, the trigger doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the anxious is getting out front.
My Self-Care Kit comes to the rescue!
These items are now all in one easy place so I can get to them whenever I need to calm my body and slow my racing thoughts. Overall, they don’t take a lot of space. Square inch by square inch, these things are priceless.
My Self-Care Kit is actually in 2 parts. The first part includes:
my favorite blanket/throw.
a hot water bottle
a generous-sized heart pillow
my favorite essential oil
a neck pillow I can heat in the microwave
aromatherapy pillow
incense
coloring book
my affirmation journal
My Self-Care Kit is in a drawer in my bedroom. But, it could be anywhere. The important thing is that, when I find myself becoming anxious, I go to my Self-Care Kit, and find a selection of things that will help.
That can only be a good thing.
Taped on the wall next to my computer is My Backup List.
The items on this list are a selection of things that I know will help when I need them. They include names, locations, emails, and phone numbers to schedule
a yoga session
a Reiki session
a reflexology session
a massage
So, for me, my Self-Care kit comes in two parts. I know that, between the items in the drawer and the list on the wall, there are options for being calm.
Then, tucked away for me to find when I need them are a guided meditation and a scented bath bar to use with a relaxing and calming bath.
We are each different, on our own special paths. Each day is a new opportunity. One thing this new year has taught me: A Self-Care Kit is ready and waiting for me when I need it.
Ahhhhh.
Calm
Thanks for reading this post.
Please forward this article to your favorite social media network and share it with your friends and neighbors. Everyone needs calm these days.
Thurman Greco
thurmangreco@gmail.com
